No time / money for the gym? Pushups are the answer

I've been fortunate enough in my life that i have enough money to pay for the ever-increasing rates that are charged for gym memberships. I can totally understand how a large portion of the population might not have access to an additional $100 a month though.

This doesn't necessarily need to keep you from achieving your fitness goals though because some of the best exercises are actually just mimicked using gym equipment anyway. It can prove quite difficult to sculpt your biceps without having access to gym equipment but honestly, when I look around at my own gym, most of the people that are working on that particular part of their body, aren't really doing enough to ever be "cut" anyway. This is kind of another topic but people honestly should be working on compound exercises that work a large amount of muscle groups before they ever try to micromanage.

But let's look at the grand-daddy of them all: Pushups!

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I've already covered proper form for a pushup but if you are just starting out, make sure you go and look up the real way to do pushups so that you can get the maximum benefit without causing potential damage to your lower back and shoulders ok?

Pushups can be done almost anywhere and honestly, when you strive for correct form they are probably a lot more effective than going into a gym and just putting the weight stick on some random weight and lying down and reaching for the stars. Bench presses, and variations of them, are mostly intended either for people that can't yet do a pushup because they weigh too much or they are intended for people that have achieved such levels of fitness that they can no longer get the "burn" that they desire by doing normal pushups and therefore have to add more to the plates than their body can provide.

Basically, I feel that until you can do 20 pushups using proper form with relative ease, there isn't much reason for you to get underneath a bench press. For many, I think that using a machine is kind of a copout since they are simply looking to make things easier for themselves than if they just got down on the floor and used their own body weight. Sure, once you get more advanced it is probably a good idea to do both weights AND pushups (perhaps as a warm up) but for the most part, us normies probably don't need a bench press at all unless you don't want to get your hands dirt on the ground.

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A pushup uses more than just your chest muscles after all, and once again, this is especially true if you are using proper form and keeping your back straight. There is quite a lot of strain put on your triceps, for example. Honestly though, who doesn't want to have fit triceps?

For those out there that are just beginning or don't have the money for the gym I have a little challenge for you. The next time you are binge watching Big Bang or going down a wormhole on YouTube, how about you do a set of 20 pushups between episodes? It's going to give you a great benefit for the nothing you are paying for it, and if you stick with this, I guarantee you are going to see results and the process will become easier for you. Everyone has time and money to use the floor for 1 minute between sets of things you want to do like watch videos, so how about we stop with the excuses?

_{I have no professional qualifications but I did turn my life around in my 40's and am now stronger than I have ever been in my life. If I can do it, I think most other people can as well}